


Duty

by kangeiko



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-08-20
Updated: 2005-08-20
Packaged: 2017-10-08 17:24:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/77808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kangeiko/pseuds/kangeiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>There is a certain level of joining that only the highest-rated telepaths can indulge in</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duty

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Selena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selena/gifts).



There are matters of etiquette amongst lovers that must be attended to at one time or another. It is a list of preliminaries that must be observed and discussed before – not after – intimacy and trust.

You learned this the hard way, through trusting and being trusted, and now know better.

_Are there any secrets you wish to keep? Are there any thoughts you do not wish to share?_

_What will you give of yourself?_

The words vary from language to language, but the thought behind them remains the same: do not trust too much. Do not give too much.

There is a certain level of joining that only the highest-rated telepaths can indulge in; a pure, unadulterated joining of minds. Too young with Montoya, you have confined yourself to superficialities and tokens of affection that were still, at the end of it, too much.

There is a certain level of joining that you could indulge in that cannot be measured and cannot be controlled. Carolyn has done it before and would welcome it with you. You do not have to look to know this: you can see it in the curve of her smile and the brightness in her eyes.

You have never partaken of it. You never will.

The closest you have come to it was a gun clenched in your hand and the stars exploding above.

When Carolyn touches you, it is with a bare hand. Her mind is open before you and you could know it all, if only you looked. It is more of an effort to _not_ look, really; to _not_ touch her and _not_ know her.

Love. Duty.

She reaches up to kiss you and you can feel the life inside her stir.

_Love._

_Duty._

You have never asked her why she went rogue.

*

fin


End file.
